Report: Lieberthal To Retire As Phillie

The Daily News reports Mike Lieberthal will retire as a Phillie. The catcher spent 13 seasons with the club, catching the bulk of the time between Darren Daulton and Carlos Ruiz. A .275 hitter with the Phillies, he holds the franchise record for games caught.

“Philadelphia has always been a second home to me, so I’m really looking forward to this,” Lieberthal said in a statement. “I spent half my life there and still follow the team closely on television.”

He’ll officially retire June 1. Classy move by Lieby and the Phils. He was a solid player for his entire Phillies career and is definitely worthy of the sign-and-retire.

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Stand up guy and pretty decent catcher. I would think that if anyone thinks about Mike Lieberthal, they’ll think of him in a Phils uniform. Best of luck to Lieby in all his future endeavors, and thanks for all your years as a Phil!

I have to disagree with the consensus. Lieberthal was the face of the mediocrity on a Phillies team that could not get the job done. Lieberthal began his career a year after the Phillies made the playoffs and left a year before they made them again.

Of course this was not all Lieberthals fault but in his last few years he cost the Phillies games that cost the team the playoffs because he could not throw out base runners anymore and left runners in scoring position by the dozens. Sorry, I do not have the warm and fuzzys for Mike Lieberthal.

For some reason, the Phillies always seem to have special catchers. I have great memories of Gus Triandos, Clay Dalrymple, Bob Ueker, Tim McCarver, Bob Boone, Pat Corrales, Darren Daulton, and of course today’s Chris Coste. But Lieberthal was one of the best. He won’t be in the Hall of Fame, but Phillies fans will always remember him.

That actually brought a smile to my face when I heard that… he was a good player on some really bad teams… “I’m an All-Star” ….i’ll never forget that line. At one point he was the longest tenured athlete in Philly…then he left, and Iverson took that title… wonder who it is now, Brian Dawkins??

listen to that punk columnist. i say send spam to his email. san diego has some of the weakest, passionless fans in all of sports. get behind your team man, demand excellence from them. you have jake peavy, chris young, maddux, germano, and a few other great (peavy, maddox) to decent pitchers. theres no reazson why that padres team should be so lifeless (punchless lineup). if theyre not going to use those starters then give one of them to us for like, ryan howard. id take jake peavy for ryan howard straight up but the padres would say no to that in a heartbeat.

Leberthal is my role model. There just aren’t alot of mediocre fielding catchers who hit 265 and hit 15 Hrs. Back in my time I held the recod for most continental congress appearences. I was present at the 1st the 2nd and the 3rd, as well as the constitutional convention

I’m sorry but I always think these things are lame. Emmitt Smith signed with the Cowboys AFTER he finished his career playing with the Cardinals just so he could say he retired as a Cowboy. WRONG! You retired as a player with the Cardinals.

And now Lieberthal signs with the Phillies so he can say he retired as a Phillie. WRONG! You finished your career as a Dodger!